Description

nquinn408

opened on Jul 31, 2026

Issue body actions

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Whenever we start up connection to SQL based feature registry, it attempts to create schema. Allowing app to modify schema is not recommended, if it comes with a bug it might corrupt something or worse case delete it.

Describe the solution you'd like
Schema should be pre-created but since new version of feature registry might need new schema, the sql based registry connection should read schema to see if schema is compatible first, then recommend running a schema tool to create it.

Describe alternatives you've considered
We run the registry service with admin and then redeploy with read-only privileges but that is very manual and time consuming.

Additional context
Not necessary for non-sql based feature registry.

Reacted by Nikhil Kathole

Activity

1. nquinn408

   added

   kind/featureNew feature or requestNew feature or request

   on Jul 31, 2026
2. AdityaPatil22 commented on Aug 3, 2026

   

   AdityaPatil22

   on Aug 3, 2026

   Contributor

   More actions

   Hi @nquinn408 ,
   I looked into the issue and here's the approach I have in mind.

   schema_mode configuration

   Add a new schema_mode option to SqlRegistryConfig with three modes:

   • auto (default) – Preserves the current behavior by running CREATE TABLE on every startup. This is fully backwards compatible.
   • verify – Skips DDL entirely and verifies that all expected tables already exist. If any are missing, Feast raises a clear error instructing the user to run feast registry create-schema.
   • skip – Performs neither DDL nor verification. This is intended for users who manage the schema externally (e.g. Alembic, Flyway, etc.).

   New CLI command

   Add a new command:

   feast registry create-schema

   This command reads feature_store.yaml, connects using the configured credentials, and executes the required CREATE TABLE statements. Since it's idempotent, it's safe to run multiple times.

   The intended workflow is:

   1. Run feast registry create-schema once during deployment using a privileged database user.
   2. Deploy the application using a non-DDL user with schema_mode: verify.

   Example configuration:

   registry:
     registry_type: sql
     path: postgresql://readonly_user:pw@db:5432/feast
     schema_mode: verify

   Overall, this addresses the workflow described under the alternative considerations. Instead of deploying once with an admin user and then redeploying with a restricted user, users can initialize the schema a single time and deploy with schema_mode: verify from the beginning.

   Happy to open a PR if this direction makes sense.

   cc: @ntkathole
3. nquinn408 commented on Aug 4, 2026

   

   nquinn408

   on Aug 4, 2026

   ContributorAuthor

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   @AdityaPatil22 I love this approach. Feel free to tag me on the review. Thanks for your effort!

   Reacted by Aditya Patil
4. AdityaPatil22 commented on Aug 5, 2026

   

   AdityaPatil22

   on Aug 5, 2026

   Contributor

   More actions

   @nquinn408 - Raised a PR with suggested changes.
   Could you please have a look : #6704
   Thank you
5. nquinn408

   closed this as completedin #6704on Aug 9, 2026

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